A rectangle of light shot into the room as my mother rushed in. We children had gone to bed. In a hurried whisper Mom told me something had happened and my dad had been called away, and she asked if I would pray with her. We went to another room, and she explained that there had been an unthinkable accident. A young child of a family in our congregation had been badly burned by a bonfire in their backyard.

Mom quoted Jesus’ words, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” She asked if I would pray with her, and of course I did. These were people I loved; and I trusted God—even though I was still learning about how prayer worked, especially in these situations. After I prayed, I felt better. I also felt honored to know that, in fulfillment of this verse, Mom thought I counted as a full person when it came to prayer.

Sadly, the young child died of his injuries. That was very hard for me to understand, because I believed God had heard our prayer, and I knew He wanted good things. It began to show me that my reckoning of how God should answer prayer is not always what happens when I pray. And prayer is no easy thing. It is not an inherited gift, nor is it a simple or easy discipline to practice, bringing calculated results. We will do it our whole lives long, and we will probably continue to learn more about the depth and breadth of a prayer walk with God until the day we die.

In that vein, it’s good to know that people are using a new book by an RP minister to help with their prayer walk. This is not a book with a human list of what is important in prayer; it is a book that covers the breadth of Scripture itself on prayer. Thus we read not only the Bible’s teaching about prayer in general but also consider how and when people prayed, what they said, how they were answered, what God said about it, and so on.

Since Prayers of the Bible by Gordon J. Keddie is a one-year devotional that was just released in December, many people are starting 2018 with a commitment to know God better through prayer this year. We are pleased in this issue to feature not only a testimony by Rev. Keddie (Do You Ever Feel You ‘Haven’t a Prayer’?) but also several meditations (available only in print edition) on prayer from his book.

Though we have already turned our focus to the new year at hand, we at the Reformed Presbyterian Witness can’t help but be joyful and thankful for you, our readers, who have supported this magazine in the past year. Many of you also sent in an article, news note, or prayer request, or helped encourage others to subscribe. We are so thankful for all of you, and we are delighted to continue working with you as we focus on what God is doing in the Reformed Presbyterian Church. And please pray for us!